I've been a pop music manager for several years, representing some of the biggest names in the genre and a lot of people don't realise how much work goes into managing an act, especially ones which can have quite a short shelf life the way they can in the pop charts.

You've always got to have an eye on the next big thing while still trying to do your best for the group du jour and the best tip I can provide for anyone in the game trying to sign said 'next big thing' is that appearances are absolutely everything.

The last few years have seen the British music industry take something of a downturn - some will blame the internet, some will blame the over-saturation of pop on the radio and TV stations but whatever the reason, there is simply less money going around than ten or twenty years ago. This means less money for the record label, which leads to less money for the artist and in turn less money for their management, however in a business where image is everything, a manager still has to look like they are very successful and have money to burn.

Having a high end car is absolutely vital if you are to achieve this goal, but with less money around it's difficult to walk to the Ferrari dealership every couple of years to buy a new one, but I recently found a way around it by buying a used Lexus.

Though I was initially opposed to buying a second hand car, on a chance visit to a dealership I found a used Lexus in excellent condition for a reasonable price and the idea was sown.

Though people would surely know it was pre-owned by the number plate, a custom registration number would hide that aspect and would still be much cheaper than buying a brand new car. It seemed this plan couldn't fail.

After weighing up the pros and cons of this approach, I decided to save money, purchase the used Lexus and made a call to my assistant asking her to set up a customised registration plate for it as soon as she could. I would have a new high-end car with a custom registration, which definitely implies success.

Though I'm far from unsuccessful - my latest signing is in the top 10 as I write this - there's simply less money going around in the pop music industry than there was in the days of the Spice Girls. As such I have to be more careful with how much I spend to achieve the image I need to keep my career on track and my used Lexus turned out to be the perfect solution to this.